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In 1888, an unknown murderer took the lives of five women in the Whitechapel District of London. The murders were bloody and ugly. Will we ever find out who the criminal was? Scotland Yard has evidence that has never been revealed to the public. The Yard has blackened out names in its files. Despite protests against this expurgation, Scotland Yard refuses to divulge the information. Its argument:

In a surreal tribunal hearing in May, which saw a senior officer give evidence from behind an opaque screen and cite Judas Iscariot to support his point, the agency argued that laying everything bare would violate its confidentiality pledge to informants, even those long dead, and undermine recruitment of collaborators in the present-day fight against terrorism and organized crime.

Some critics view the policy as an unjustified concern over privacy. Others wonder if the Yard is protecting prominent individuals of the era. Here’s the story from the LA Times.